Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War took place from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939 when the Falange party attempted to launch a counter-revolution against the Spanish Second Republic following the overthrow of Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. The coup's leader Jose Sanjurjo was arrested by the socialist Frente Popular government, leading to pro-Falange soldiers in North Africa and northern Spain rising up against the revolutionary government. The civil war was effectively a proxy war between the Soviet Union and the Axis Powers, with Nazi Germany providing the Condor Legion aerial expeditionary force to the Nationalists and Fascist Italy providing ground troops to Francisco Franco's army, while the Soviet Union sent advisers to assist the Republicans. The Nationalists launched several offensives to capture the cities that did not heed the call for counter-revolution, and Franco massacred supporters of the Republican cause in territory that he occupied. The Falangists had the upper hand by 1938, and they managed to capture Madrid after a three-year battle in 1939. The civil war came to an end on 1 April 1939, with the Republicans either fleeing to France and being detained or fleeing to Latin America (primarily to socialist Mexico, whose president Lazaro Cardenas backed the Republican government). The civil war was bloody and saw several atrocities such as the Bombing of Guernica, and Germany and Italy showed their newfound power; however, Falangist dictator Francisco Franco did not return the favor in full during World War II, instead sending the Blue Division to fight the USSR. 500,000 people died in the war, while 450,000 people fled to other countries.